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While I think that Helena is the archetypical Ravenclaw as Tim so nicely put it, there's no reason she couldn't have been placed into Ravenclaw simply because it was her mother's house. The sorting hat was created by the Founders to sort students after they were gone. In my imagination, at least, there would have been a good deal of time when the Founders would decided among themselves which students would be taught by whom.

In regards to the whole Salazar/Godric thing, I have two main points: first off, probably neither. That's the sort of canon fact that is relevent. I really think JKR would have mentioned something. However, it's fun to speculate on shipping between the Founders, and this is fanfiction, so go ahead and pick one of the men, but bear in mind my second point. People are not carbon copies of their parents. Just because Helena acts proud and sneaky doesn't mean she can't be Godric's daughter. I act very little like my own father, and I believe Dumbledore spends a good deal of time reminding Snape of this very idea in regards to Harry, James and Lily.

Then, of course, there's cmwinters' point, which I'm not going to completely repeat. Just remember that the Founders were probably a lot more three-dimensional than your average fic gives them credit for.

Time period

I checked that Lexicon HP timeline thing and supposedly Hogwarts was founded in the late 900s. Unless the founders could live longer (And Rowena died young (ish? I don't think she would be dying in her 30s... but people lived shorter back then, right? When DID she die??), the 10th century is probably when she lived. People didn't document years very well back then. By the way, How did people talk and dress back then? And Quidditch wasn't invented until the 1000, and QQuidditch not until much later. The statute of secrecy wasn't there yet either. I can't imagine Hogwarts without Quidditch and secrecy...

EDIT:
Well, I'm writing a fan fic about helena and her mom and i needed a few details, and sorry about it being off topic, in my head, it started out completely about them, but it kinda unwound a bit, sorry! Thanks for answering my questions anyway despite my scatter-brainliness...

I checked that Lexicon HP timeline thing and supposedly Hogwarts was founded in the late 900s. Unless the founders could live longer (And Rowena died young (ish? I don't think she would be dying in her 30s... but people lived shorter back then, right? When DID she die??), the 10th century is probably when she lived. People didn't document years very well back then. By the way, How did people talk and dress back then? And Quidditch wasn't invented until the 1000, and QQuidditch not until much later. The statute of secrecy wasn't there yet either. I can't imagine Hogwarts without Quidditch and secrecy...

Erm... I'm not sure this belongs in Helena Ravenclaw's thread, but a few points.

Yes, the Founders supposedly created Hogwarts in the late 900s, well before the creation of Quidditch or the Statute of Secrecy.

Wizards and witches are known to have longer lifespans than Muggles, so it should hold true even in the late 900s. Rowena, the founder of Ravenclaw House, probably lived to a reasonably long old age. Helena, her daughter, the Gray Lady, was murdered by the Baron after she stole the diadem and ran away.

As for the last question in this thread about whether Helena was in Ravenclaw or was a good Ravenclaw...

The Founders Sorted their students themselves, and I'm sure educated their own children themselves as well. Whoever Salazar's kids were (and he had to have kids at some point, Tom Riddle/Voldemort is his descendant) they were almost certainly in Slytherin house, whether they particularly possessed the traits of the house or not.

As for anything else... I imagine Helena was a good Ravenclaw, but that her mother valued learning over her. I think Helena could have been a neglected child, at least, neglected until she got old enough to speak and be interesting to her mother. Stealing the diadem could be a matter of jealousy, to spite her mother.

Wikipedia says that life expectancy in Medieval Britain was about thirty years. So basically, a Muggle back then would be born, married at age eleven or twelve, perhaps slightly younger, push out as many children as they could, and then died. Even though people who are thirty today don't look very old, I imagine that due to the harsh lifestyle back then, someone who was thirty would look old. Grey hair, wrinkled, care worn faces etc. I imagine that wizards still lived longer than Muggles, but seeing as the Muggle didn't live all that long, I'd say at a push 65 for wizards.

I'd hazard a guess that Helena Ravenclaw was younger than thirty when she dies, perhaps twenty five or so. Not much older. As for your other questions, a thread in the Reference Desk would be a more appropriate place for them.

Wikipedia says that life expectancy in Medieval Britain was about thirty years. So basically, a Muggle back then would be born, married at age eleven or twelve, perhaps slightly younger, push out as many children as they could, and then died.

The life expectancy issue in Middle Ages is based on many things, but basically age 30 is an average. You have to take into account the high infant mortality rate, war and death in childbirth, which massively reduces the average age of a society. Plenty of people in Medieval times lived to age 60-70 once those variables were removed from the equation. I would imagine that a witch/wizard would live at least to this age and probably longer as they wouldn't have to work as hard (manually) as a Muggle.